Michael Toti
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Michael Toti STATEMENT One of the things I like about collage is the process of combining images and developing a new interpretation of the original form. For me, the process is about searching, looking at image after image and trying to find the connections between one image and the other. Sometimes there is an epiphany, but most times it simply involves time and work to find the right parts to fulfill the vision in my head and sometimes the images I find will alter the direction. I am also drawn to textural elements, bits of paper that have been run over by cars, they are worn and distressed and it changes their character. Tickets with numbers or letters, postage stamps, and bits of typography appeal to the graphic side of me. But they function more as symbols or shapes rather than message. Recently I have started adding more colour to the backgrounds hoping to add more contrasts and texture to the image. I am also exploring a less refined approach to the drawing trying to feed off of the movements that the backgrounds create. BIO I am a collage artist with a graphic design background. I teach graphic design by day and do collage at night in my studio over my garage in Avon, Connecticut. I used to do digital collage as part of my graphic design business, but now I work totally analog. I have been showing my collage work for a few years in a local gallery and library as well as participating in a regional open studio open to the public. My education was for graphic design, although I was exposed to painting, printmaking, sculpture through my core classes in art school at Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I went on to receive an MFA from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. I currently teach graphic design at Manchester Community College and a mixed media collage class at the West Hartford Art League. ARTIST CONTACT (786) 519-3107 IMAGES
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